Electric signaling apparatus for railway-trains



(No Model.)

W. P. RAY.

ELECTRIC STGNALING APPARATUS TOR RAILWAY TRAINS. No. 338, 89.

I a r///// 7// Pa't'nt MRT. 23, 1886.

N. PETERS, Pnnbullwgmpher, washingmn, n.0.

'UNITED STATES PATENT Garros.

WILLAM F. RAY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY-TRAINS.

SPEGEFECATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,439, dated March 23, 1886.

Application filed December 19, 1885. Serial No. 186,153. (No model.)

Massachusetts, have invented new and useful- Improveinents in Electric Signaling Apparatus for Railway-Trains, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric signaling apparatus for railway-trains, the object being to provide improved coupling devices for the electric conductors of said apparatus, improved means for maintaining` an open circuit in the conductor-lines, and for automatically closing the circuit when the couplings are drawn apart, and for holding the contact-points of the two conductors of a coupling apart when the latter is disconnected from a corresponding coupling.

In the drawings, forming part of this speciiication, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion ol' a railway-train having applied to it electric signaling apparatus embodying my invention, the car in said portion or a train being shown with its side partly broken away, to show a portion of the electric conductors therein, and the eab of the locomotive being shown partly in section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, substantially of operative size, of

the conductor-couplings and portions of the conductors and their inclosing-tube. Fig. 3

is a vertical longitudinal section of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a transverse section on line x x, Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end of the conductorcouplings, and showing the end of its spring circuitcloser. of the end of the platform-sill of a carin transverse section, Fig. 6 showing the couplingsocket therein and Fig. 7 showing said socket with the coupling therein and a piece of the conductor-tube connected to thelatter.

In the drawings, A is the car, B the tender, and C the engine, and on the latter, or on the tender, in any nconvenient place, is located a suitable battery, indicated herein by D, with which the two electric conducting-wires o o are connected, one thereof having the alarmbell e connected therewith, said bell being located on or near the engine within hearing of the engineer. Said conducting-wires o o, by

Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views means of the couplings between each car and the engine and tender, as hereinafter described, form continuous conducting-lines running from said battery and bell under the tender B and the car or cars A of the train to the extreme end of the latter, be it longer or shorter, and at a convenient point or points in each car branches from said wires o o are run upward to an ordinary push-button, o, as shown in Fig. l. In practice, prefer to 1`n close said wires o (which are provided with a suitable insulating covering) within a rubher tube, a, the latter not being shown in slid Fig. l.

The conductor-couplings b, one on the ends of the conductors o o, at each end of the car or other place in the conductor-line where it may be necessary to break connections with cars, engine, or tender, are constructed and connected with the wires o o as follows: Each of the couplings b is 1nade,substantially identical with the others, from brass or other-suitable metal, one end thereof (its rear end) being of cylindrical tubular form. rlhe opposite ends, b2, of said couplings are made of semicylindrical forni, as shown, each having a iiat ring, z, secured thereon, under which the Yends b2 find a place when two couplings are brought together in a connected position, as in Figs. 1 and 2, and whereby the ends b2 are held one against theother and the couplings are kept in line. The said couplings are, to use a common expression, halved together,77 and are connected by holding one in each hand and by bringing their ends bL together, as described. To prevent a too easy separation of said couplings and to improve their electric contact, a flat retaining-spring, y, is secured to each coupling on the outside of the ends bl thereof, and when the couplings are brought together, as in Fig. l, the bent ends of said springs slip over the rings z and engage with the latter. A metallic bar, a, extends across the liat part of the end b2 of the coupling.

Both the cylindrical and the semi-cylindrical parts of the coupling b have a plug, e", of wood or other insulating material, fixed therein, extending from or beyond the rear end of said coupling,through the latter to the opposite end thereof, under the bar a, said plug being secured in the coupling by a screw, c, Fig. 2.

Within the plug w in each coupling b is secured the metallic spring circuit-1nger h, to

the rear end of which one of the conductingwires o is connected, and from the latter it extends through said plug in a slot, f, in its half-round part to a point under the metallic cross-bar n at the end of the coupling, and just 1o back of the end of finger It the latter curves outwardly above the face of the flat part'of plug w, as shown in Fig. 5.

The second conducting-wire, o, is soldered or otherwise connected to the interior or to I5 the rear end of the coupling b, as shown.

The rubber tube, when it is employed over the wires o, is connected to the end ofthe plug w, whichprojects beyond the rear end of the coupling b, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

zo It will be understood from the above description that when the wires o 0 are connected with the battery D and with one of the couplings b a closed electric circuit is formed hrough one wire and the spring-ngerh to the coupling by the contact of said finger with the cross-bar n of the coupling, and thence through the other wire, which is connected to the coupling, to the battery.

When two couplings are connected together,

3o as in Figs. l and 2, to unite the conductors between two cars or elsewhere on the train, the couplings themselves, to which one ofthe line-wires is connected, form the connection between the sections of the latter, and the 3 5 spring-lingers h, to which the second line-wire is connected, form the connection between the sections ofthe latter.Y The union of saidY two couplings, as described, brings the aforesaid curved portions of the spring-fingers h into 4o contact, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby the ends of the latter are sprung away from the crossbars n, disconnecting them from the coupling b, and communication is thereby established between the sections of the wire o, which are connected with said fingers.

At the rear end ofthe rear car of a train, or at the rear of the tender B when disconnected from the train, will be found a singleone of these couplings b, the spring-ingerh of which 5o when in its normal position lies in contact with the cross-bara and closes the circuit in the two wires o, causing the alarm-be1l e to ring needlessly and the battery to be exhausted; and to break the contact between said finger 5 5 h and the coupling Z) under such circumstances the following means are provided: In the sill J of the platform of the car, or in other convenient part of the end of the latter, a hole, t, is made, into which a plug, K, of wood or 6o other non-conducting material,is iXed,the end of the latter being of half-round form and adapted to fit the end of a coupling under the ring z thereof. rlhe said hole tin the sill Jis made large enough to admit the coupling, as shown in Fig. 7, and let it engage with said plug K, and thereby the curved part of nger h ofthe coupling is brought against the face scarica ofthe plug, and the end of the finger is sprung away from the cross-barn ofthe coupling, and the circuit between the two wires is maintained open.

Fig. 7 illustrates the position of the conductors and the coupling thereon when the latter is held in the platform-sill, as above described; and Fig. 6 the coupling hole and plug in said sill.

The operation of the abovedescribed im-Y provements on a railway-train to signal the engineer to stop the latter, or to notify him that some part thereof has become accidentally detached, is as follows: The normal position ofthe coupling parts when the apparatus is in operative position on the train secures an open circuit on the conductor-line. By pressing the push-button c in any car the circuit is closed and the alarm-belle is caused to ring, giving the engineersuch notice as may be understood between him and the conductor of the train, and when the train accidentally breaks in two the couplings b are separated,

rletting the iingeri of one of the lat-ter come in contact with the cross-bar u of its coupling, thereby closing the circuit and causing the alarm-bell to ring and notify the engineer.

The above-describedimprovements provide a substitute for the ordinary bell-rope heretofore used, which is much more efficient and sure of operation than the latter for signaling the engineer ot' a train.

'Vhat I claim as my invention is l. The within-described electric signaling apparatus for railway-trains, consisting of the combination, with a suitable battery and an electrically actuated alarm-bell located on the engine, of two electric conductors connected with said battery and bell and extending in separated sections throughout the train, a coupling attached to the ends of each section of said condnctors,consisting of a cylindrical and half-round metallic shell, to which one of said conductors is attached, having a ring surrounding said half-round portion, a springfinger therein extending in a line with the latter, a metallic cross-bar extending between the sides of said half-round part of said shell, a plug of non-conducting material filling the said shell, and a circuit making and breaking finger having the second of said conductors attached thereto located in said plug and extending under said cross-bar of the shell, and having a curved portion projecting above the surface of said plug in the said half-round part of the coupling, substantially as set forth.

2. rlChe within-described electric signaling apparatus for railway-trains, consisting of the combination, with asuitable batteryandan electrically-actuated alarm-bell located on the engine, of two electric conductors connected with said battery and bell and extending in separated sections throughoutthe train,one or more push-buttons connected with said conductors for sending signals to the engine, a coupling IOO IIO

attached to the ends of each section of said conductors, consisting of a cylindrical and halfround metallic shell having the sides of the latter portion thereof united by a metallic cross-bar, to which shell one of said conductors is attached and has a ring surrounding its said halt-round portion, a spring-finger thereon extending in a line with the latter, a plug of nonconducting material filling said shell, and a circuit making and breaking finger having the second of said conductors attached thereto, located in said plug and extending `under said cross'bar of the shell, and having a curved portion projecting above the surface of said plug in the said half-round part of the coupling, substantially as set forth.

3. Electric signaling apparatus for railwaytrains, consisting of a suitable battery and an electrically-actuated alarm bell located on the engine, of two electric conductors connected with said battery and bell and extending in separate sections throughout the train, combined with couplings attached to the ends of each section of said conductors, consisting of a cylindrical and half-round metallic shell, to which one of said conductorsis attached,whose haltrounded ends overlap and are separably secured together by surrounding rings and springlingers thereon, substantially as described, each of said couplings having an internally-insulated circuit making and breaking finger, to which one of said conductors is attached,which fingers lie normallyin contact with the said crossbar of the shell and are brought into contact with and removed from the latter by the union of the two couplings, and are automaticallyreturned to said normal position by the separation of the couplings, substantially as set forth.

4. The withindescribed coupling for the ends of the conducting-wires of electric-railway-signaling apparatus, consisting of a cylindrical and half-round metallic shell having the sides of the latter portion thereof united by a metallic cross-bar, to which shell one of said eonduetingwvires is attached and has a ring surrounding its said half-round portion, a spring-tinger thereon extending in a line with the latter, and an internally-insulated circuit making and breaking finger, to which one of said conductors is attached, which lies normally in contact with said cross-bar of the shell, and has a curve therein to make a contact with the finger of another coupling when two of the latter are united, and whereby contact is broken between said finger and said cross-bar, substantially as described.

5. As means for maintaining an open circuit in the conducting-wires of an electric railwaysignaling apparatus, the co1nbination,With the cylindrical and half-round coupling b, having one of said conducting-wiresattached thereto, and having an internally insulated circuit making and breaking finger, to which one of said conductors is attached, one end of which lies normally in contact with said shell, of the non-conductingplng K,locatedin the couplingreceiving socket t ot` a xcd part of the end of the car, with which said coupling is engaged, and whereby the contact of its said tinger with said shellis broken, substantially as described.

WILLIAM F. RAY.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, FRANK H. BOWEN. 

